Sperm donor may be forced to pay child support

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 12:15:42 GMT —

A sperm donor in Kansas is fighting a state effort to force him to pay child support for a child conceived through artificial insemination by a lesbian couple.

46-year-old William Marotta and the two women, Angela Bauer and Jennifer Schreiner, signed an agreement they believed released him from all parental duties, including financial responsibility to the child. But the state argues the agreement is invalid because they didn't go through a doctor for the artificial insemination.

Kansas law says a doctor's involvement shields a man from being held responsible for a child conceived through the procedure. The state says at least 10 other states have similar laws.

The state says that means Marotta, who lives in Topeka, can be held responsible for about $6,000 that the now 3-year-old girl's biological mother received through public assistance as well as future child support.

Marotta told The Topeka Capital-Journal he's "a little scared about where this is going to go, primarily for financial reasons."